Preface

Many, if not most, federal agencies are not in compliance with the Prompt Payment Act, despite the fact the act has changed little during its more than 25 years of existence. I teach many sessions of a course on the Prompt Payment Act each year, and while I find that agencies are generally in compliance with most of the Prompt Payment provisions, some requirements are inevitably overlooked.

Auditors have taken note of these deficiencies, and Prompt Payment Act noncompliance is a frequent finding in both financial and performance audits. Though the basic rules are simple, there are numerous exceptions that financial payment systems are often unable to deal with. In addition, the rules themselves can be difficult to properly interpret and apply.

This book breaks down the Prompt Payment rules into their most basic parts, explains them in easily understandable language, and provides examples that can be emulated in everyday operations. It is presented in a question-and-answer format, allowing the reader to quickly find the answer to a specific question, while grouping the material in such a way as to allow for a complete treatment of each topic.

Because the number of people I can reach through my classes is limited, I wrote this book to provide a wide range of practitioners the information they need to get and stay in compliance with the Prompt Payment Act. It should be of interest to program managers and officials, entitlement and certifying officers, auditors responsible for reviewing payment operations, and vendors—who may not be completely aware of their entitlements.

William G. Arnold
Heath, Ohio